Portable Station

While out this morning on VK5/SE-013, I finally remembered to take a few photos of my setup, so here goes!

After sitting on the ground too many times, it has come down to this! A lightweight table – just big enough for the KX3, paper log and laptop (for the easy summits) -and best of all, got it on special for only $30!

This summit is a very easy one, and we have set up here, with the squid pole for the dipole tied up to a post just behind me. The 2nd set of headphones – yep – for 5RR who took the photos today. Earphones are an essential – they keep the ears warm on the cold summit, and if there is any wind you really need them to hear.

The headset just makes it easy – and the Yamaha CM-500 is a mid-priced headset that matches up with the KX3 pretty well – I always get great audio reports.

The station from the operating position – the walkstool can be seen, and for the astute, you will see the foot switch – the black disk on the ground near the corner of the table, which keeps both hands free for logging or tuning. Usually just have a 9aH SLAB for power – means we can go for about 5 hours between charges. The little blue box near the KX3 is the power conditioner – a great addition – it allows input from between 8-30V and you can set the output from 2-16V @ 6A (QS-1212CCBA 80W).

The whole lot, squid pole supporting the antenna, stools, table and bag to pack everything up in, ready for the next summit.

So, what does your portable station look like?

Oh, yeah, Forgot to mention, worked 40 stations on 3 bands and 3 S2S contacts in about 2 hours on a very nice morning.

Now that is comfort. I use a deck chair and fold up table on my park activations, because you don’t have to lug the gear that far. But with the SOTA activations, I’ve just used the nearest most comfortable rock or fallen log.